Claire Skinner
Biography
Claire Skinner is an English actress whose television work includes the sitcom Outnumbered. She grew up in Hemel Hempstead, trained as an actor in London, and later joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, making an early stage appearance in Hanky Park at the Oldham Repertory Theatre. She worked with Mike Leigh on Life Is Sweet (1991) and Naked (1993), and her screen credits include Clare in Life Begins, Lucinda in Chef! opposite Lenny Henry, and the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas special The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. She played Sue Brockman in Outnumbered from 2007 to 2016 and returned for a Christmas special in 2024. On stage, she appeared in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg in 2019. She won a Geneva Stars de Demain prize for Life Is Sweet, Critics' Circle and Time Out awards for The Glass Menagerie, and received an Olivier nomination for that play and a BAFTA nomination for Outnumbered.
Movie Career
- Films
- 12
- Career span
- 36 years1989 to 2025
Genres
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First role
Claire Skinner's first role was in Hanky Park by Walter Greenwood at the Oldham Repertory Theatre, a start she called really traditional.
A change of course
Skinner completed a postgraduate MA/Masters by Research degree in Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London in 2026.
Claire Skinner movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Mike Leigh directed two of these films, Anand Tucker two. Two actors appear in three of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Jim Broadbent's page
Gina McKee's page
Michael Gambon's page
Colin Firth's page
David Thewlis's page
Lesley Sharp's page
Mike LeighDirector, 2 films, 1991 to 1993
All films by Mike Leigh
Anand TuckerDirector, 2 films, 2007 to 2024
All films by Anand Tucker
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.